Childhood Lost

Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).

Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.

Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism

(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)

"What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless."

John Stone,

UK media editor, Age of Autism

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"The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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MN: SPED numbers expected to increase to 22% by 2020; costs: more than $2.6B

July 1, 2018, Open Minds: Minnesota Estimates Special Education Enrollment Will Rise 6% Between 2018 & 2020https://www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/news/minnesota-estimates-special-education-enrollment-will-rise-6-between-2018-2020/The number of Minnesota students receiving special education services is projected to increase by 6%, from 141,237 in 2017 to more than 150,000 by fiscal year (FY) 2020.In 2016, 16.1% of Minnesota students received special education services, up 1.3 percentage points over a decade. Minnesota school districts spent $2.2 billion on special education services during 2017. Special education costs are projected to rise by 4.1% in 2018, 4.8% in 2019, 4.8% in 2020, and 4.9% in 2021. By 2021, special education costs are projected at more than $2.6 billion . . .